Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has boasted that he will defeat President Muhammadu Buhari hands down in the 2019 presidential election because the president is already politically weak.

He said defeating Buhari will be a cakewalk for him if the president runs against him.

Atiku said Buhari has become politically weak after squandering the goodwill Nigerians accorded him during the 2015 elections.

“I will definitely beat him this time. He has wasted a lot of his massive goodwill,” Atiku boasted.

The former vice-president was interviewed by Dele Momodu for his column which was published Saturday in The Boss Newspaper he publishes.

He said many associates of Buhari are furious, but they are silent about their disapproval of the president and are waiting for the right time to strike back.

“A lot of people are disgruntled but keeping quiet and lying low,” Atiku said. “Our youths are suffering terribly and now they are being sold into slavery.”

“Everyone knows my track record of inviting and attracting a good team and giving them the opportunity to work professionally. Nigerians are tired of leaders who cannot think big and work big,” he added.

Atiku said he would be ready from day one should Nigerians elect him president in 2019.

Atiku last week Friday dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress, citing alleged failure by the Buhari administration to improve the quality of life in the country and neglect of the youth in federal cabinet appointment.

The national spokesperson for the APC, Bolaji Abdullahi, countered Atiku’s assertion, saying Buhari would handily beat the former president should he stand for re-election.

“I believe that the reasons Nigerians voted for President Buhari in 2015 are still pertinent. They voted President Buhari because they needed a leader who has integrity, strong on corruption and capable of defeating Boko Haram.”

“If he stands for election in 2019, we believe Nigerians would still vote for him,” Abdullahi told newsmen Saturday afternoon.